Rio opens school for "mine of the future"

Rio Tinto has teamed up with London’s Imperial College on a ?6 million research centre to develop advanced mining and mineral techniques.

The Rio Tinto Centre for Advanced Mineral Recovery, aimed at developing the “mine of the future” will push forward innovative mining technologies and techniques to improve the extraction of minerals, while minimising environmental impact, says Rio Tinto.

Research will focus on extracting minerals used to produce valuable metals such as copper and nickel which are becoming increasingly hard to find.

Scientists will also work to develop more efficient techniques for block caving to exploit the natural fractures in rocks rather than using explosives, says the company.

Head of innovation John McGagh belives the alliance with Imperial College is a key to delivering the Rio Tinto mine of the future as the company aims to work with the “best research groups” in the world.

“This approach is based around optimising all stages of the mineral extraction process, resulting in maximum recovery rates while minimising the mining footprint,” says McGagh.

The ?6 million funding will be used over a five years at Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering to carry out research.

By Ozge Ibrahim